I have a stupid question to ask. The book often refers to the "Nipponese", "Nips" etc. and I realized I had never heard that term before. I'm guessing this is another word for Japanese? If so, why does the book use this term? Does anybody know the derivation right off the top of their head? I'll look it up if nobody has any ideas...
Can I ask a stupid question?
By Surgiomcsurgexc - Posted on 10 April 2007 - 8:23pm.
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According to urbandictionary.com, "1. nipponese -A native or inhabitant of Japan."
nippon is the japanese word for japan or something like that.
The use of the world Coolie is interesting because it typically refers to Chinese workers IN the United States. Does anyone know if this was the common way that marines would have referred to the Chinese during WW2?
I took a class on the Second Sino-Japanese War last semester, and in a lot of the books I read, Chinese peasants in China were referred to as Coolies.
Also, why are they using the word "nippon?" Shouldn't they be using the word "Japanese" because that's what all Americans do? Are they using this word because it's more military speak? I guess I just expected them to be less educated than to know what another country calls itself.
There's a moment coming up at which we're told that men (i.e., military men) who've had experience in Asia use the slur "Nip" (from Nippon, obviously), while men who haven't use the slur "Jap."
From wikipedia "The Japanese names for Japan are Nippon and Nihon. The Japanese name Nippon is used for most official purposes, including Japanese money, postage stamps, and international sporting events. Nihon is a more casual term and the most frequently used in contemporary speech."
So they're being more correct than we are.
That's really interesting, because I know that a derogatory name for Koreans is "gook" but it's actually a more "correct" term because the Korean word for Korean is "hangook."